The Bluebirds
by Rosie2009
Summary: Mal leaves Hades in charge of babysitting Mallory while she attends a meeting with the council. When two terrors are together, it equals trouble, but when Evie's added to the mix, it's an even bigger load of it. Companion piece to "Grandaddy's Little Girl" and "Auntie's Little Girl."


"Alright, Dad, I'm trusting you with this."

"Mal, baby girl, it will be perfectly fine. I assure you."

"Well, it got let out that Uma nearly lost her the other day, so I just wanted to make sure you can handle the responsibility of watching her."

Hades and Mal looked down at the little girl that was currently wrapped around Hades' leg. Mallory giggled as he lifted his foot and tried to shake her off without any luck. Hades raised an eyebrow at Mal, raising his gaze to his purple-haired daughter.

"I honestly don't think there's much danger of losing her," he told her and Mal sighed before finally kissing his cheek. Mal looked down at her watch, hesitantly starting to go.

"Go on. They need you," he told her.

Mal was currently stuck between the need to join Evie and Ben at a council meeting and her resistance to leave the two crazy persons by themselves. She had already went through a fifteen minute talk about why they shouldn't listen to music at all while she was busy just a few halls away.

Of course, Hades would never, ever do a thing like that, he had assured her. It was just that when his hands touched the stereo buttons, they couldn't help but send the speakers into a blasting inferno of rock music.

"Okay… I'll see you later," Mal finally told him waving at him and Mallory as she left down the hall. Hades and Mallory returned the wave and he shut the door when Mal was out of sight. He turned and dragged the little kid along the floor, her gigging like a maniac the whole time.

"Alright, Baby-Cakes. What are you in the mood to do?"

"Let's jump on Mommy and Daddy's bed!" Mallory announced, pointing in the direction of Mal and Ben's bedroom. Hades laughed, thinking of the looks on their faces if they came in and found their bed completely messed up.

"That does sound pretty fun," he agreed. "But let's see if there's something else we can do that won't get Grandpapa Hades in the doghouse."

Mallory thought for a moment before smiling at him with her eyes glowing green.

"Let's go visit Austin! We could scare him!" Mallory giggled and Hades rolled his eyes fondly at the girl and her wicked little ideas. Even as pleased with her mischievous ways that he was, he still knew it probably wasn't something that he should encourage.

"I thought Austin was your friend," Hades told her, walking along awkwardly with her weight attached to his boot. He sat down on the nearby couch with a huff of relief and Mallory crawled up into his lap, playing with the spikes on his jacket.

"He is. He's just fun to scare."

"You don't want Auntie Audrey to get mad. You know she's a little bit of a hothead," Hades joked, gently tugging at a blue curl of hair on her head. She waved his hand away with a giggle.

"She never lets me and Austin have fun. Mommy doesn't either. She tells me to play nice with him. But I always do, Grandpapa!" Mallory exclaimed with such an emphasis for her young age that Hades couldn't resist chuckling at her.

"Austin's the one that plays dumb, mean things."

"What does Austin like to play?" Hades asked, genuinely curious about what the son of Audrey and Jay had thought of to play with Hades' one and only granddaughter.

"Austin likes to play the princess tower game, but I don't like it," Mallory informed him with a pout.

"Why's that?"

"Because he wants to save the princess from a tower with a mean dragon outside it. He thinks dragons are mean." Hades nodded his head, immediately enlightened to why Mallory didn't like Austin's games.

"I told him they weren't mean and that dragons are nice," Mallory said, and Hades hummed in agreement.

"You got that right," he told her and drew her closer to kiss her forehead fondly. Mallory looked back up at him, her brow furrowed cutely.

"Grandpapa, I'm hungry," she announced, and he pursed his lips in thought.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Peanut butter jelly sandwich!" she exclaimed, and he threw her onto the couch cushions quickly, her laughing like a maniac as she bounced on the pillows.

"You just wait right here, my little goddess, because lunch shall be served," Hades told her in a fancy, British-sounding voice before walking over to the kitchen to prepare it.

Hades opened the cabinets, luckily finding the peanut butter in the first one he opened. He sat it on the counter and sidestepped to access the fridge. Hades shopped through the shelves and pulled out the jelly quickly.

Mallory hurried into the kitchen with him, trying to reach up and grab the peanut butter. He pretended not to notice as he grabbed the bread. Just as she started to get her fingers wrapped around the container, he bent down and snagged her up in his arms as he threw her over his shoulder.

"It's a peanut butter bandit!" Hades cried out, hopping around in a circle before sitting her on the counter nearby the sandwich makings. She let out a glorious peal of laughter and he grinned back before opening a drawer and pulling out a butter knife and three spoons.

He unscrewed the lid on the peanut butter, and he handed Mallory a spoon. They both scooped out a big bunch of peanut butter on their utensils. They both looked at each other with a serious expression before popping each other's spoons into the other person's mouth.

Hades held his peanut butter covered spoon in his mouth as he scooped some peanut butter with the clean utensil.

He tried to knock the peanut butter off of his spoon and onto the bread but no matter how hard he tried to get it off, it wouldn't remove itself. Hades finally shook it violently hard and it flew onto the counter with a splat. His eyes widened as he glanced between the glob and Mallory. She giggled at his antics as she licked her peanut butter coated spoon.

"Well, let's try that again," he spoke around the spoon in his mouth, sloppily scraping it off the counter and throwing it in the sink.

This time the glob managed to land on the bread and he victoriously wiped it with a grin.

The jelly fell over in the midst of his strokes with the knife and some of it spilled onto the counter. He picked it back up and grabbed some of it in his hand, jelly smearing across the counter, and victimizing it to the same fate that the first peanut butter scoop suffered.

Hades took the spoon he had dipped in the peanut butter and that hadn't been in their mouths and started shaking it like he had done with the jelly. Before he could get too crazy with it, Mallory interrupted him.

"Here, Grandpapa, try this," Mallory told him, taking the spoon in her tiny, unsure hands and wiping the scoop part on the bread. He nodded slowly, impressed with her skills.

Hades took it from her gently, trying it for himself, and was pleased with how well it worked.

He placed the pieces of bread together with a smile and used his knife to cut it in half.

"Here you go. A piece for me and a piece for you," Hades told her, before withdrawing his spoon from his mouth with a satisfying pop and swallowing the peanut butter. He put it in the sink with everything else and then took a bite of his sandwich half.

Mallory put her spoon on the counter and took a bite of her sandwich.

"How about that? Old Grandpapa doesn't make too bad of a cook, huh, Mallory?" Hades asked her as he chewed his sandwich. She nodded emphatically and he offered her a high-five before finishing his half.

After a few more bites, Mallory was done, too and Hades rinsed his hands under the faucet before drying them and putting Mallory down on the floor.

Mallory looked up at him with a big smile and she ran over to the couch, grabbing the tambourine that was sitting on the table nearby it. Hades walked over to her with an eyebrow raised.

"Let's play music!" Mallory cried. Hades immediately thought of what Mal had warned him not to do, but he slyly grinned upon the idea that he could just turn the bass down on the music so Mal would be never the wiser to their jamming out.

He stepped over to the stereo and pointed at her with a smile. She put the tambourine back in its place in favor of hopping up and down in excitement.

"Baby-Cakes, let Grandpapa introduce you to a little something called heavy metal rock n' roll," Hades announced, pressing a button on the stereo. Immediately a guitar riff started to play and Mallory's eyes went wide as she stared at the speaker. Hades knew she had never heard it played at such a volume.

After only a moment, a huge smile came onto her face and she started shaking her rear to the beat. Hades clapped his hands along with the beat, stomping his foot against the floor.

"Whoo! Go, girl!" he cheered as he grabbed the tambourine sitting on the table nearby and began to rattle it as the beat grew more intense.

Mallory watched him as he waved his head around and made his hair bounce. She started to shake her head as well, laughing as she grew dizzy.

"Now put your hands in the air like you just don't care," he instructed, throwing his arms up and shaking the tambourine emphatically to accentuate his movement.

Mallory followed along and he whooped.

"Go, Mallory, it's your birthday! Go Mallory, it's your birthday!"

"Grandpapa, my birthday is two months away!" the six-year-old cried with a toothy grin and he raised an eyebrow.

"Really now?" Hades questioned, spinning and bobbing his head again as he threw the tambourine on the couch and started into an air-guitar solo.

"Yeah! I want one of these, though, when it comes," Mallory told him as she walked around him and grabbed his tambourine in her little hands. He paused in his rocking out and kneeled down beside her to look at what she had.

"Well, first you've got to know how to play one of those. Here, try it like this," Hades gently placed his hands on hers and guided them in the motion of making the tambourine rattle. She shook it like he instructed and smiled widely when it made its signature shaking sound.

"There you go. Now hit me with your best shot, rock goddess!" he shouted as he stood up with his arms spread out dramatically. She smiled wickedly as her eyes glowed green with the mischief. She rattled the tambourine hard and the power of the waves that Mallory's magic had summoned sent him on his butt.

For a moment, he was a bit dazed as he lay there on the floor. She walked up carefully and innocently with the tambourine clutched tightly.

"Are you okay, Grandpapa?" she questioned, and Hades shook himself out of the shock, looking at her with pride.

"Heck, yeah, I'm okay! You were smoking hot, Baby-Cakes!" Hades got up to his feet and clapped for her, the rock music still blasting throughout the room.

"What are you doing?!" a voice suddenly interrupted them, and Hades raised an eyebrow as he turned to the intruder that was standing in the doorway.

It was Evie, and her eyes were narrowed as she tried to look stern but was miserably failing in the midst of her largely unhidden urge to laugh.

"Rocking out! What does it look like?!" Hades yelled over the music and Mallory ran over to Evie to hug her.

"Auntie Evie!" Evie bent down and opened her arms widely as Mallory crashed into her hard. Evie lifted her up onto her hip and kissed her nose and cheeks quickly, successfully drawing a laugh from the little one.

"Hey, Angel-Baby!" Evie greeted just as energetically, and Hades hesitantly turned off the music as he approached them. "What have you been up to?"

"Me and Grandpapa been rocking out with the tambrine," Mallory explained with a shake of the musical device. Evie smiled at the fact that she wasn't even able to fully pronounce the name of the instrument, and she looked up at Hades.

"Mal asked me to come and check on you two, and what do you know? There was a good reason to do so," Evie told him as she pointedly looked at the mess on the counter. Hades followed her gaze and shrugged with a smirk.

"She wanted a snack, so I got her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich," Hades nonchalantly spoke. Evie stared at him with an unimpressed expression.

"I was going to clean it up!" he added defensively, and Evie rolled her eyes as she looked back at Mallory.

Mallory's brow was furrowed in thought as she looked between Hades and Evie. She pursed her lips and pulled a strand of her own blue curls so she could examine it. She looked between Hades and Evie again and she smiled widely.

"We all have blue hair!" Mallory proudly proclaimed, and Evie confusedly nodded, curious to see where the little imp was going with this.

"What if we all rock out together?!" Mallory suddenly suggested and the other two looked at her in shock.

"Well, it's not so bad of an idea," Hades finally admitted, happy to have another member of the "band."

"Mallory, Angel-Baby, I don't know much about rock and roll," Evie explained desperately, and Hades shrugged in agreeance as he turned back to face the speakers.

"Sure, sure. Chicken!" he coughed, trying to cover up his insult. Evie's gaze snapped to his back immediately, feeling the rise of the challenge jumping inside of her.

"I am not a chicken."

"Okay, then," he told her just before doing a chicken dance and clucking at her. Mallory clapped her hands in delight and Evie rolled her eyes before sitting the little one down on the floor.

"I'm not a chicken!" Evie insisted, feeling a bit offended at his assessment.

"Then prove it, Sapphire," Hades crossed his arms over his chest, smirking at the reaction he drew from the bluenette. Evie narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment before nodding her head.

"Definitely," Evie quickly agreed before hurrying over to the speaker and pressing a button as she listened to the beginnings of the music playing.

Hades raised an eyebrow, eager to see how she was going to approach dancing to the music.

Evie slowly nodded her head, getting into the beat before suddenly launching into a dance choreography that rivalled every skill that Hades possessed.

His eyeballs nearly fell out of his head as she perfectly landed every move. He swallowed hard, looking down at Mallory and knowing he was outmatched.

"Go, Auntie Evie!" Mallory shouted as Evie moved at lightning speed, her feet nearly becoming flying projectiles as she danced. As soon as a guitar solo came on, her fingers flew across the imaginary strings in a purely epic representation of playing the guitar.

Mallory took the tambourine and started shaking it with Evie's dancing and Hades had to work to pick up his jaw from the floor.

Once she had finally finished, her chest was heaving with every breath and her hair was a wild mess around her face. She walked up to Hades with a grin.

"Shouldn't have underestimated you."

"Bet you won't be making that mistake again," Evie smugly grinned as she breathlessly spoke before heading over to the counter to rid it of all of the peanut butter and jelly.

Hades swallowed, still very impressed by her skills, and he approached her from behind.

"Seriously, you should rock out with us. You need to teach me some of those moves!" Hades laughed, and Evie tilted her head in a contemplating gesture as she rinsed out the dishcloth before wiping the counter.

"Yeah, Auntie Evie! Join us!" Mallory called out and Evie grinned at the little one who's lip was poked out in an attempt to connive her.

"I really shouldn't," Evie started to protest as she put the peanut butter and the jelly back in their proper places, and Mallory waved Hades down to her level.

"Grandpapa, do the face!" Mallory whispered and he nodded before raising back up. He tapped Evie's shoulder and Evie looked over at him. He had his lip poked out in a poor imitation of Mallory's pouty lip.

"Seriously?" she asked, rolling her eyes and chuckling at him. Hades looked down at Mallory, shrugging his shoulders helplessly and Mallory got a determined look on her face before tugging on Evie's flowing skirt. Evie looked down at the girl with a kind smile.

"Yes, Angel-Baby?" Evie asked, and Mallory quickly launched into her pout.

"You know I can't say no to that face, Mallory Florina," Evie told her as she finished cleaning the mess. Hades offered Mallory a thumbs-up and Evie huffed at him.

"However, I can resist yours," Evie said, pointing at Hades with an eyebrow raised. "And please don't ever try it again. It's honestly terribly weird when you do it."

But Hades' good mood about having a band could not be snuffed and he suddenly got a wide grin as he looked at the two girls in the excitement of his sudden idea.

"I know what we can call ourselves!" Hades announced.

"And what would that be?" Evie asked, in the process of texting Mal and letting her know that she wouldn't be able to come back to the meeting with the other dignitaries since she had been captured by the Mallory monster.

"The Bluebirds!" Hades proudly proclaimed and Mallory nodded her head in emphatic agreement. Evie furrowed her brow in thought.

"You know, that's actually pretty good," Evie admitted and Mallory ran past both of them as she climbed on the couch with an excited look.

"Let's rock, baby!" she told them and Evie smiled widely as she walked over to turn on the stereo so they could enjoy the music.

…

Mal was nearly asleep listening to all of the council droning on and on about trivial manners when she received Evie's text. She surreptitiously placed her phone in her lap and read Evie's message.

"_I got caught by the Mallory monster. I can't come back until I've spent time with her, so good luck, sweetie_!" Evie had sent with several blue and purple hearts following. Mal resisted the urge to loudly groan and she forced herself to appear at least a little interested in what the crotchety old codgers were prattling on about.

However, she was quickly drawn from this attempt by a low bass thumping and shaking the room and the table. Mal's eyes widened as she watched the pens and pencils on the table rolling off into the floor.

She shared a glance with Ben and she was somewhere between the ultimate frustration and relief at having a good excuse to leave.

"My Queen, do you suppose you could-"

"Definitely," Mal assured him, offering an awkward curtsy to everyone around before she hurried out the door. As soon as she was outside of it, she took off in a run in the direction of her and Ben's part of the castle that was interiorly built like a house.

Mal turned a few corners, the music growing increasingly louder as she got closer. Mal practically dove through the door to her "house" as soon as she reached it.

The music was blaring and Evie, Hades, and Mallory were all performing a perfectly-timed group dance to the beat. Mal stood there gaping at them for a moment, before Evie suddenly held up a microphone.

"Sing it, you guys!" Evie shrieked, and all three of them leaned in, launching into the chorus wholeheartedly. "I love rock and roll! Put another dime in that jukebox, baby! I love rock and roll, so come and take your time and dance with me!"

"Yow!" Hades howled and Evie nodded her head hard.

Mal walked over behind them and gingerly tapped the off button on the stereo. All three of them stopped to stare at her and all three of them had a hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar look. Mal crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the three of them.

"Caught by the Mallory monster, huh?" she asked Evie suspiciously and Evie flashed one of those thousand-watt, totally guilty grins of hers.

"Well, I was! They wanted me to stay here and rock out with them," Evie smiled as she stepped closer to Mal. Mallory hurried up to Mal and she grabbed her hand tightly in her small grasp.

"Mommy! We're the Bluebirds! Grandpapa said so!" Mallory proudly told her as she turned and looked back at the other two. Hades had the good graces to look a bit ashamed of what he had encouraged, but Mal could easily see that he was very pleased.

"Really? Grandpapa said so?" Mal asked her, and Mallory replied with a big nod. Hades swallowed hard, knowing he was in big trouble now.

"Mallory, honey, why don't you go play for a few minutes? Grandpapa and Auntie Evie and I need to have a little talk," Mal told the little girl sweetly, and Mallory agreed, hurrying off into her room to play with her toys.

Evie placed her hands on Mal's shoulders.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?" Evie questioned, complimenting Mal's clothing. Mal raised an unimpressed eyebrow at them both. Evie's grin slightly fell and she moved back to stand beside Hades.

"I thought we agreed on no music during meetings?" Mal asked, pointedly looking at Hades as she spoke. He chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah…"

"And you encouraged it?" Mal asked Evie, sounding disappointed in the slightly older girl.

"Yes, and I'm very sorry, M. We were just having a little bit of fun with Angel-Baby," Evie apologized and Mal's expression softened as she looked at the both of them in thought.

"Well, let's make a deal," Mal suddenly offered. Hades and Evie focused their attention on her.

"Once every two weeks, you interrupt my meetings with the council, and I'll let you off the hook completely," Mal told them, and Hades furrowed his brow in shock.

"Why?"

"Because believe it or not, those meetings are horribly boring. I don't blame Evie for running off and staying down here as soon she could get away," Mal laughed.

"As long as you guys turn down the bass when I come down here to 'see what's going on,'" Mal air-quoted, "there'll be no problem at all."

Hades and Evie looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a good deal to me," Hades expressed, and a smile came to Mal's face.

"Okay, then," Mal clapped her hands in finalization of the decree. "Turn on that music! I didn't come all the way down here to not find some tunes!" Mallory quickly came running back from her room with a really worried look.

"But Mommy has no blue hair!" Mallory cried.

And she couldn't help but giggle when everyone else immediately burst into laughter at her sudden proclamation.

Mal shook her head at all of them, thinking to herself that The Bluebirds were definitely her favorite band of all time.

**A/N: Well, I finally delivered on some Hades and baby fluff. I hope you all enjoyed it! I made Mallory a little bit older in this one, because it just worked better for the plot. :)**

**I don't know what I'm doing after this, though. Tbh, I'm still stuck in the mindset of "Girls' Trip," so if anybody has suggestions for fluffy Huma, uncle or aunt fluffy stories with Mallory, or sisterly Mevie, let me know in a review.**

**Have a great day!**


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